Plastic tubes for dispensing pasty or liquid substances



Oct. 3, 1967 A. ca. WYNES ETAL PLASTIC TUBES FOR DISPENSING PASTY OR LIQUID SUBSTANCES Filed May 7, 19 5 FIG.4

AN THO I\// 4155 0A/ wfwgg 2;! PETE/Q ASP/N INVENTORS M Y BY ATTORNEYA United States Patent PLASTIC TUBES FOR DISPENSING PASTY OR LIQUID SUBSTANCES Anthony Gibson Wynes and Peter Aspin, Bristol, England, assignors to E S & A Robinson Limited, Bristol, England Filed May 7, 1965, Ser. No. 453,919 3 Claims. (Cl. 222-495) This invention relates to plastic tubes for dispensing pasty or liquid substances, for example, tooth paste, shoe polish and the like.

Tubes for containing pasty and liquid substances made of plastic material instead of the usual pliable metal are well known but the disadvantage of using such material for their construction is that a tube cannot be rolled up at the bottom when part of the commodity has been dispensed because, owing to the nature of the plastic material, the tube tends to assume its original shape, thus when part of the contained substance has been dispensed the remainder tends to withdraw into the tube and air fills the space above the contents. When nearly all the commodity has been dispensed it is necessary to flatten most of the tube before any dispensing action can be obtained. This detracts from the usefulness of the tube and users tend to prefer the old-fashioned metal tubes where it is only necessary to pinch a small area of the tube to obtain a dispensing action. The object of this invention is to overcome this disadvantage.

According to this invention, we provide a flexible plastics tube having a dispensing nozzle at one end projecting from a shoulder on the tube and a non-return valve comprising a one-piece tubular body closely fitting within said nozzle and a displaceable valve member being provided in said valve body said body being provided with a retaining rim thereon for bearing on said shoulder, a valve seat and lugs integrally mounted on the valve body in such a manner that said lugs are adapted to be displaced in an inward direction of the valve body to confine freely and removably the valve member in the valve body between said lugs and said valve seat.

Several forms of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plastic tooth paste tube from whic ha part of the contents have been dispensed.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional elevation of a valve body.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the valve shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevation of the top portion of a tube from which a part of the contents have been dis- Referring to FIG. 1, a plastic tube comprises a tubular body 1 and a dispensing end portion. The body 1 is made from a length cut from an extruded tube of opaque polyethylene, one end of the body 1 being sealed to the dispensing end portion which comprises a shoulder in the form of a disc or flat cone 2 having a central opening leading to a nozzle 3 screw threaded on the outside to receive a cap 4 in the normal way. The other end of the tube is the filling end which after filling is closed by a flat heat sealed area 5.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, a non return valve is provided in the nozzle 3.

The valve body 14 is tubular having an internal platform 15 with a central hole 16 forming a valve seat and 3,344,963 Patented Oct. 3, 1967 an external flange or rim 17 for the purpose of locating the body 14 in the nozzle of the tube and bearing on the shoulder 2. A lip 18 at the upper end prevents the valve body from collapsing into the nozzle 3. A pair of lugs 20 are partly cut from the wall of the body 14 and joined thereto by a reduced area 21 so as to be capable of moving from the position shown in FIG. 2 to that shown in FIG. 4.

In use, a ball 22 is placed in the valve body above the flange 15 and the valve body is inserted into the tube from the filling end and pushed up into the nozzle, the lugs 20 contract by the pressure of the nozzle and the lip 18 is compressed as it passes through the nozzle and springs into the position shown in FIG. 9. The flange 17 bears against the upper part of the shoulder 2 and the ball 22 is restrained betwen the valve seat 15 and the lugs 20. Instead of a ball valve a poppet valve may be substituted.

When pressure is applied to the tube 1 the ball 22 is lifted from its seat and the material in the tube is squeezed out. As the contents of the tube are dispensed the tube 1 gradually flattens as described previously.

The term tube is intended to cover any plastic container which can be squeezed to dispense the contents through an orifice at one end portion.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s:

1. Flexible plastic tube having a dispensing nozzle at one end projecting from a shoulder on the tube and a non-return valve comprising a one-piece tubular valve body closely fitting within said nozzle and a displaceable valve member being provided in said valve body, said valve body having an outwardly projecting retaining rim thereon for bearing against said shoulder, a valve seat therewithin and lugs struck outwardly from the valve body and spaced from said valve seat, said lugs being flexibly connected to said body so that on insertion of the closely fitting valve body into said nozzle said struck outwardly lugs are displaced in an inward direction and within the valve body to confine freely and movably the valve member in the valve body between said lugs and said valve seat.

2. Flexible plastics tube according to claim 1 wherein said lugs are a pair approximately oppositely disposed in said valve body.

3. Flexible plastics tube according to claim 1 wherein a projecting rim is provided at the opposite end of the valve body from said outwardly projecting rim end and bears on the mouth of the nozzle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,607,993 11/1926 Loewy 222490 1,862,794 6/1932 Lamb 222496 3,067,787 12/1962 Salk 222-490 3,165,242 1/1965 Jackson 222-495 3,179,300 4/ 1965 Davidson et al 222-495 FOREIGN PATENTS 244,323 4/ 1960 Australia.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

HADD S. LANE, Examiner. 

1. FLEXIBLE PLASTIC TUBE HAVING A DISPENSING NOZZLE AT ONE END PROJECTING FROM A SHOULDER ON THE TUBE AND A NON-RETURN VALVE COMPRISING A ONE-PIECE TUBULAR VALVE BODY CLOSELY FITTING WITHIN SAID NOZZLE AND A DISPLACEABLE VALVE MEMBER BEING PROVIDED IN SAID VALVE BODY, SAID VALVE BODY HAVING AN OUTWARDLY PROJECTING RETAINING RIM THEREON FOR BEARING AGAINST SAID SHOULDER, A VALVE SEAT THEREWITHIN AND LUGS STRUCK OUTWARDLY FROM THE VALVE BODY AND SPACED FROM SAID VALVE SEAT, SAID LUGS BEING FLEXIBLY CONNECTED TO SAID BODY SO THAT ON INSERTION OF THE CLOSELY FITTING VALVE BODY INTO SAID NOZZLE SAID STRUCK OUTWARDLY LUGS ARE DISPLACED IN AN INWARD DIRECTION AND WITHIN THE VALVE BODY TO CONFINE FREELY AND MOVABLY THE VALVE MEMBER IN THE VALVE BODY BETWEEN SAID LUGS AND SAID VALVE SEAT. 